To access a topological map showing the AT route and shelters click on the Appalachian Trail Map link in "Useful Links".
Day 62/70, July 21, Saturday. Full Goose Shelter, ME.
Miles From Katahdin: 276.5; Miles Hiked To Date: 888.4; Miles Hiked Today: 9.6
We had planned to hike through Moohusuc Notch and stay at the Speck Pond Shelter but stopped short here at Full Goose Shelter. The Notch lies about 1 mile north and is considered the hardest 1 mile of the entire AT. The hike here was not easy, with steep climbs and descents over slippery rocks. Bare granite with no hand holds and a lot of mud.
Red, the section hiker, who stayed with us last night, hiked the same 10 miles yesterday in 11 hours. It took us only 7 but we weren't up for tackling the “toughest mile on the AT” after doing it.
Hellbender and Patrick, NOBO, have yet to arrive. We need to hike 14 miles a day to reach Pat in Rangeley on time. I am beginning to wonder (read, seriously doubt) we can do it. This presents a dilemma because there are few places that Pat can easily meet us. Without a cell phone we'll have to find a pay phone, a working pay phone. Andover, only 20 miles away, presents an option, but we'd get there too soon and end up losing some time. Also, it's 8 miles off the trail. We could hitch a ride, maybe, or find someone who could call the hiker's hostel there and get picked up. We'll figure something out. Good weather today. We got some nice views.
This morning just before we left the shelter, a young man came into camp. He asked how far it was to Gorham. He had hiked all night. He's a SOBO'r. He ran out of food yesterday and was walking non-stop to get to a resupply place. It's difficult to imagine someone hiking the trail we just completed in the dark. Supply points here are few and far between.
A middle aged couple joined us shortly after we arrived. They are headed south, section hiking. We gave them our maps for the remaining section they intend to hike as they had left theirs at home. I can't remember their trail names, some kind of cereal, 'Rice Krispies' and 'Wheaties'??? Another SOBO'r passed through, 'Happy'. He is hiking solo and knew the cereal couple. After he left, Wheaties told us that Happy had 'walked' from Indiana to Maine to start the trail!!!
Day 63/71, July 22, Sunday. Baldpate Lean-to, ME.
Miles From Katahdin: 264.5; Miles Hiked To Date: 900.4; Miles Hiked Today: 12
Perfect weather with sunshine and fair weather clouds paired with a challenging but interesting trail made for a glorious day for hiking!
Brad Descends Rebar Steps With Aplomb
The couple from Gentian Pond, Hellbender and Patrick, arrived early evening last night and stayed with us. Another guy arrived well after dark, but I didn't even know it until morning.
We took off around 6:10 am and met the challenge of Mooshusuc Notch. It's a jumble of house sized granite boulders wedged into a narrow gorge, creating an unbelievable obstacle course. You have to slide down bare faced granite and crawl through tunnels on your stomach. We had to remove our packs twice to get through. Adding to the experience, recently, maybe 2 weeks ago, a young but full grown moose fell to his death in the Notch right in the middle of the trail! He smells a bit worse that we do, but other than missing an eye, and being dead, the body is pretty much intact. I guess scavengers have not been able to get to him. The sight of this magnificent creature folded in among the rocks struck both Brad and I with sadness. This afternoon we learned from a NOBO'r that a couple of hikers entering the Notch from the south had startled the moose. He, the moose, ran into the Notch to escape, tried to climb up the steep side, slipped on the rocks and fell. They believe he may have broken a leg. The moose fell hard enough to be wedged between the rocks. Supposedly the rangers who were called arrived while the moose was still alive but left it there to starve. Apparently, the policy is to let nature takes it's course. That assumes that the backpackers are natural. Who knows? He'll be preserved there for some time due to the fact that even though it's July, he's lying on ice. Ice stays in the Notch all year round!
Brad and I carefully worked our way through the Notch, the moose serving as a pretty graphic caution. It took us 2 hours to get through that 1 mile. The hike itself wasn't hard, but you had to go very slowly. It was beautiful and challenging. The rest of the hike was the usual: steep climbs and great views. The good news is that trail was relatively dry, making traction much better.
Fallen Moose
Brad Negotiates "The Hardest Mile"
Tight Squeeze
Coming down Moohusuc Arm, we met 'GG' as she was climbing. 'GG' stands for “great grandma”. She's a 70 year old, solo hiker, about to finish the entire AT. She started her Thru Hike in 2005 but developed acute tendinitis in her ankle and had to leave the trail. She returned to the AT this year and made it to Mt. Washington, NOBO, when she fell on the rocks and injured the same ankle. She spent 3 days in emergency but was back on the trail picking up where she left off as soon as she was released. Her ankle still gave her problems. Her daughter, concerned, suggested that she leave the trail, that the Whites were too tough. She agreed and had her daughter take her up to Mt. Katahdin so that she could hike south! She said the trail from Mt. Katahdin is much less difficult and has given her ankle time to mend. So, she had nearly completed the Maine Section and seems to be going strong. She told us that she had forgotten her iodine tablets for purifying water. We had some as back up to the filter and gave her ours. In her gratitude, she gave us a jelly bean ("a" as in "one") each! Neither "G" stands for generous.
We lunched at Speck Pond, a beautiful shelter and campsite area, then continued on toward the Baldpate Lean-to.
Speck Pond
As we approached ME 26, coming off Old Speck, I began fantasizing about Trail Magic and how we hadn't seen any since Vermont. Lo and behold, as we approached the parking lot at the trailhead, a cooler appeared! It was loaded with Coke, Beer, snickers bars and ice!!! A note on the cooler invited Thru Hikers to help themselves! As we sat to enjoy our bounty, the Trail Angel responsible for this largess strolled up from the parking lot. He came to collect the cooler for the day (you can't leave food out overnight for fear of bears & and other critters getting into it). We had arrived just in time! He offered us anything else we wanted from the cooler and we each helped ourselves to another Coke and candy bar. The beer was tempting but I didn't think it conducive to the 2.5 mile uphill climb we had yet to walk.
As we were finishing, a group of hikers with their Bernise Mountain dog (I think that's what it was - a Newfoundland like dog but not tri-colored) came down the trail. They had just completed a 4 day hike that included the Notch. Imagine taking a dog through that place – a 100# dog at that! They said they would have left the dog at home had they known what the trail was like. In places they had to lower him down over the boulders. The woman had scratches all over her arms and legs from struggling with the dog. We found out that they live in Lee, NH! He's an engineering professor and they live on Jenkins Lane (just off Wednesday Hill Road and right next door to where we used to live)! They are originally from Germany. They were kind enough to take our trash including the four Coke bottles. They also gave us a large bag of trail snacks. What luck!!!
Tomorrow we need to decide what to do. We can make Rangeley if we hike 44.5 miles in 3 days. Brad's ankle is bothering him (seems like a repetitive motion type thing), so that's a factor. If we don't make Rangeley we have no easy way of either contacting or connecting with Pat. We could stop in Andover only 8 miles away and call her from there. Then we could arrange another pick up point (meaning a 16 mile detour to get to town and back to the trail) or just have her come and get us. The logistics of meeting her at some crossroad at some non-specific time is daunting. I told her I would call form Rangeley, thinking we would be there in plenty of time but that's not going to be the case. We won't get there until late afternoon, at best, and Rangeley is 9 miles off the trail! We will have to decide when we get to the Andover trail head tomorrow.
Day 65/80, Aug 2, Thursday. The Cabin, East Andover, ME.
Miles From Katahdin: 246.4; Miles Hiked To Date: 918.5; Miles Hiked Today: 10.1
A lot of catching up to do. We arrived at the trail head on East Hill (256.5 miles from K) near Andover around 2:00 pm on Monday the 23rd. After some discussion, we agreed to hitch into Andover and call Pat to pick us up. Andover lies 8 miles from the trail. East Hill Road, a narrow country lane, clearly saw little traffic, so we thought we were in for a long walk. Before we even started walking, a car approached. Brad motioned to the car to stop, but the driver took it as a friendly wave and waved back! We need to work on our hitchhiking skills!
We hadn't walked far when a car came up from the opposite direction, slowed to a stop next to us. The driver told us that the town was only 3 miles further. He had stopped only to tell us that we didn't have much farther to go! Well, we had only walked about 1 mile, while I thanked him, I was skeptical about his estimate. We have found that people in cars have a distorted perspective of distance. It was nice of him to stop, but it would have been nicer had he offered us a ride. Shortly, a pickup truck came along heading our direction. He stopped and offered us a ride. What a break!
The distance to town was every bit of 8 miles and we were extremely grateful for the ride. He dropped us in front of the General Store & Diner, just across the street and two doors down from the Andover Boarding House. We were really hungry, of course, but decided we'd better get checked into the hostel before we ate. Lucky that we did. The manager of the Boarding House was literally leaving for the day to take his boys fishing just as we walked up. We arranged for a private/double room ($50) – shared rooms were $20/person. He gave a quick tour and instructions before he left to go fishing. He said that if we leave, just leave the door open; if any hikers come, I was to put them in No. 3 and to let them know that the $20 rate was a discount of $5. Out he went, leaving the empty house to us!
We cleaned up (ourselves, not the house) and headed for the diner. We used the pay phone there to call Pat and explained our change of plans. She suggested that she leave right then to come and spend the night with us. What a girl!!! So, we had a nice meal at the Andover General Store (great double cheeseburgers), then returned to the Boarding House. We spent the rest of the afternoon reading, napping, doing our laundry, and watching movies from the House DVD collection. Pat arrived before dark and it was great seeing her again.
It was too soon to start south for the reunion. Brad and I didn't really want to go right there from the trail. Both of us were a little “burnt out” on trail life: no private space at night, day after day of hiking, bad food, etc. Also, I think we were a little home sick. We had a nice 5 hour ride home . Wednesday we just hung out after running a few errands.
We had an uneventful trip to the reunion in North Carolina. My brother, Ken, looked shocked when he saw me. My weight loss and beard made me almost unrecognizable. He said he would have walked right by me on the street. I think Brian and Liz were a little taken aback as well. The reunion was a success and we had a great time. Back in the car, I think we were all exhausted. Pat had had a headache for 3 days and she was getting sicker as we drove. Finally, we decided to get a room for the night just outside of Richmond, VA. Pat went right to bed and felt better when she woke several hours later. While she slept, we had a huge thunderstorm.
We got home Monday around 7:30 pm. Neither Brad nor I felt rested and ready to hit the trail. To get back to the AT we had a long drive ahead of us, then at least a 6 mile hike to the next shelter. We decided to wimp out again and took Tuesday off. Wednesday morning, we headed back to Maine. While we ate lunch at a nice Chinese restaurant, I suggested that rather than start hiking that afternoon as planned, we should get a motel and start fresh in the morning. My suggestion was prompted by the fact that the temperature was in the 80s and by the time we got to the trail it would be 3:00 pm, then, we'd have a 3-4 hour hike, mostly uphill. Brad agreed readily.
This morning, we were up and ready to go early. A short drive to Andover and a big breakfast at the diner and finally, back on the trail (East B Hill Road) around 8:00. The Trail over Moody Mountain proved to be very tough. The steepness, the heat, and our long break all took its toll. By early afternoon, we were beat. To our great surprise and good fortune, we met up with 'Plugger' again. A 65 year old retired systems analyst, we'd stayed with him at the Welcome Hike Hostel and last saw him on Mt Mooselauk. He was slack-packing today and had a car waiting for him at the next intersecting road. He had checked into the “Cabin”, a hiker hostel in East Andover. We had lunch with Plugger then headed off. Because we walked much faster, we got to the cross road well ahead of him (South Arm Road, 246.4 miles from K). With almost 10 miles to go to the next shelter, I suggested to Brad that we wait for Plugger and hop a ride with him to the Cabin. He agreed.
While we waited, we were joined by 2 NOBOs and 2 SOBOs – all of whom took a break. We exchanged the usual background and trail information. One hiker told of being shot at by someone in a passing pick up truck! Plugger showed up and we rode to the Cabin. The Cabin is a private home that has converted its lower level to accommodate hikers. It's a beautiful log cabin, built by her owners Margie and Earle Towne (aka, Honey & Bear). They were extremely friendly and made us feel very welcome. For $35 each, you get a bed, dinner and breakfast, plus shuttle service. The food was fantastic (BBQ'd chicken, corn on the cob, green beans, fresh from the garden salad, homemade rolls, mashed potatoes – plus homemade brownies & ice cream), served family style with Honey and Bear joining us at the table. Besides Plugger, 2 other hikers, Sam and Dwayne, were staying there. We ate well.
We could have eaten more if Plugger and the two of us hadn't stopped in at the Andover General Store & Diner on the way to the Cabin for cheeseburgers and fries! Plugger shared some interesting rumors with us while we ate. He said that a day hiker in the White Mountains had apparently committed suicide the day before by jumping from a cliff at Grafton Notch. Also, a man born without legs is hiking the entire AT on prosthetic legs!
While we ate, we met “Engine”, a disabled Desert Storm Vet. Plugger had run into him the day before. He told us that he had helped with the search for the man who committed suicide. He said that he had actually found the dead man's watch and car keys. According to him, this discovery led the Rangers to believe that the death was suicide and not an accident. He said that he found the keys and watch apparently placed at the edge of a cliff.
Day 66/81, Aug 3, Friday. Bemes Mtn Lean-To, ME
Miles From Katahdin: 237.7; Miles Hiked To Date: 927.2; Miles Hiked Today: 8.7
We were back on the trail by 6:45 am and had a great hike making the shelter at 11:30 am. We only hiked about 9 miles but it didn't make sense to go further. Tomorrow, we'll either walk to ME4 and hike into Rangeley or go to the shelter just north of there. That will put us in a good position to tackle Saddleback Mt. If we went on to the next shelter, we would have a long day with Saddleback at the end or a short day, one or the other. Thunderstorms are predicted this afternoon and we are starting to hear thunder. A number of people have shown up at the shelter. A brother and sister team from Winston-Salem, NC, a couple and a solo (all SOBOs). Only the brother and sister elected to stay in the shelter. She just graduated from a NC state college and he just graduated HS. They are hiking slowly, deliberately, and told us they had never backpacked before starting this trip. It rained most of their first 3 weeks! They started out doing 17-20 mile days-now they're doing 5-10. Plugger showed up around 5:00 pm. He left when we did, validating his trail name.
We all settled in around 8:00. Later that night, it started to rain harder and harder with tremendous lightening and thunder. Around 12:15 am a bolt of lightening struck so close that the thunder was nearly simultaneous. The flash was blinding. Brad thought the shelter had been hit! Plugger turned his light on to make sure everyone was okay. The rain continued till about 2 or 3:00 with hail pinging off the galvanized roof.
"Second Wind", Poet & Farm Worker, Among the Rocks
Day 67/82, Aug 4, Saturday. Rangeley Gull Pond Hostel, ME.
Miles From Katahdin: 220.0; Miles Hiked To Date: 944.9; Miles Hiked Today: 17.7
We walked about 17 miles today. Great weather and fairly easy hike. Since Rangeley is supposed to be the best trail town on the AT and since we won't have many chances to stop before the wilderness, we decided to hitch hike the 9 miles into town. It took over an hour to get a ride. Two guys from NH (Somersville) dropped us at the IGA just out of town. We waited so long for a ride (there were two other hikers ahead of us on the road hitchhiking as well), we tried to call for a shuttle. However, we could get no cell service. Brad walked up a long drive to a house to see if we could us their phone. While he was there, a 4X4 stopped! I asked them to wait and ran up to the house to get Brad. He was just about to make the call. We hustled back and jumped in. I don't think the driver appreciated waiting on a narrow country road for us but he didn't say anything.
After shopping, we walked into to town, ate an ice cream cone, found a nice restaurant, and finally, called the hostel for a pickup.
Walking the Ridgeline
The Gull Pond Hostel was great! Very comfortable and accommodating with a nice living room with VCR. Beautiful spot on the Pond with canoes and kayaks available. The manager/owner bought the place 20 years ago. There's quite a few people staying there, all going south. Brad went into town to pick up some snacks. We retired early.
Day 68/83, Aug 5, Sunday, Spaulding Mtn Lean-To, ME.
Miles From Katahdin: 201.3; Miles Hiked To Date: 963.6; Miles Hiked Today: 18.4
Day 69/84, Aug 6, Monday, White Wolf Inn, Stratton, ME.
Miles From Katahdin: 187.8; Miles Hiked To Date: 977.1; Miles Hiked Today: 13.5
Yesterday, we walked 18.4 miles from Rangeley to Spaulding Mtn lean to. We climbed several 4000+ peaks in the course of the day. Fantastic views and clear skies. Blueberries! Blueberries!!! And more blueberries!!! On the granite above the tree line the blueberries get a lot of sun and we helped ourselves to a couple of handfuls – delicious! Another bush, similar to Blueberries produced a blueberry like berry that tasted similar but not as sweet. We met a guy on “The Horn” (4041') who knew a lot about the plant life and shared his knowledge. We passed few hikers but did see a group of young women – maybe 15 in total who spoke French and only a little English. They tried to tell us that the trail below was muddy but didn't know the word for “muddy” and told us that there was “wet dirt”.
Our stretch goal was the “Summit House” on Sugarloaf Mtn, three miles beyond Spaulding Mtn Lean-to and .5 mile uphill off the trail. A privately owned structure, the derelict Summit House sits atop the mountain. It served as a ski lodge years ago. Closed now, the owners kindly allow hikers to stay there. The electric has been left on and the kitchen is supposedly furnished with a toaster oven, a hot plate and a radio. The lodge also offers a 360* view above the tree line. On clear day, you can see Mt. Washington and Mt. Katahdin, a month's worth of hiking in a glance! Brad and I really wanted to get there and spend the night, looking forward to the amenities and particularly a clear, unimpeded night sky. However, I just wasn't up to it. I felt bad because I could tell that Brad really wanted to go on. He didn't say anything however, when I suggested we stop for the night. Regardless, we had a wonderful day of hiking.
In addition to the great hike, we saw our first 'live' moose! He was a young bull with an impressive set of antlers. He wasn't particularly afraid of us. After staring at us for a while, he moved very gracefully; deeper into the woods. He remained in sight however. We were excited about seeing a moose finally. The trail is literally covered in many places with moose scat and there are almost as many moose tracks as human bootprints. We expected to see moose everyday but until today, no such luck.
Our stay at Rangeley was very relaxing. The hostel is a private residence that used to be a part of a large summer camp for rich kids. The owner, an elderly gentleman, who at first seemed a little strange but turned out to be a really nice guy. He shuttles guests to and from town as a part of the service. The hostel sits rights on a large pond with low hills surrounding it. A man who stayed at Hiker's Welcome in Glencliff stayed there as well. A group of young men went into town to check out Sarge's Pub. They returned around 2:30 am. I don't think they hiked the next day.
So, today's hike brought us to Stratton and the White Wolf Inn. We got our usual early start and took time to check out the Summit House. It was a little hazy but still the views were wonderful. The rest of the hike was challenging with three 4000'+ mountains and some steep descents. As we neared the summit of South Crocker Mt, it began to sprinkle. By 10:00, it was raining hard with strong winds. We had not had lunch before it began raining, so we ate a Snickers and started down toward ME 27 and Stratton as fast as we could.
We had been trying to decide whether to hitch into town or go on to the next shelter. The heavy rain had soaked us thoroughly. I definitely wanted to head into town. Brad agreed, primarily because he didn't want to spend another night in a shelter with snoring strangers. A middle aged fellow snored so loud last night that the floor of the shelter vibrated. “Second Wind” a solo NOBO, even though sleeping outside the shelter, provided a stereo accompaniment. So, the older guy would emit a loud, sleep depriving snore, echoed immediately by “Second Wind”. Synchronized snoring! It was a kind of like the “call and response” heard in certain churches.
As we came to the trail head the rain continued but not quite so hard. I was worried about getting a ride, being so wet and muddy but a pickup truck containing a woman and her early teenage son sat in the parking lot called me over to discuss trail conditions. They were waiting out the storm and trying to decide whether to start up the trail. After a brief discussion, she offered us a ride, dropping us at the White Wolf Inn after a wet, wind whipped ride in the back of her truck.
As puddles formed at our feet, we checked in, found our room and cleaned up. After a hot shower we spread our clothes out to dry, stuffed newspapers in our boots and headed out. The rain had slowed to a drizzle and we made a quick stop at the local grocery to buy alcohol for the stove. We ate dinner at the Inn and the food was fantastic. Great, hiker friendly people!
Day 70/85, Aug 7, Tuesday, Little Bigelow Lean-To ME.Miles From Katahdin: 172.5 Miles Hiked To Date: 992.4; Miles Hiked Today: 15.3
Another good day. No rain, beautiful scenery and a 15.3 mile day. We continue to hike well but are having equipment problems. Brad's boots are falling apart. Only a month old, a seam split. I called Pat and she is going to check with EMS (what would we do without her!). Also, Brad took a fall today, landed on his back and broke the water filter. I'm trying to fix it with GOOP. We'll see. Both boots and filter will be hard to replace. The next town, Caratunk has no outfitter. We have tablets as a a back up. Most of the Thru-Hikers don't filter or purify their water if it comes from a spring or small, high altitude stream. Tomorrow we pass 2 springs. Springs are pretty safe and we, too, have drunk directly from them. The longer term issue is more critical. Needing boots and water filters may be a good excuse to have Pat meet us in Munson.
The Little Bigelow shelter features “The Tubs”, a series of naturally formed pools fed by a nice waterfall on a fast moving brook. I eased myself into the deepest pool (about 5' deep) and stayed there all of about 10 minutes. The water is freezing cold. On a hot afternoon, it might feel great, but not today. I stayed in long enough for Brad to get a picture and to clean off a bit. Tomorrow, we head for Caratunk, 21.5 miles. We have to get there before 4:00 pm to catch the last “ferry” across the Kennebec River. The “free” ferry (gratuities accepted) crosses from the north side of the river when you raise a signal flag. The ferry, a canoe, comes only at certain times of the day. The challenge is to get there on time. No camping is permitted on the east side of the river. Fording the river, while possible, can be dangerous due to the periodic, unscheduled release of water from an upstream dam. Hikers have drowned in a 4' fast moving wall of water. The dam sounds a horn when water is released but if you're mid stream, you won't make to the other side before the water rises.
Day 71/86, Aug 8, Wed, Rivers & Trails Hostel, Caratunk, ME.
Miles From Katahdin: 151.2; Miles Hiked To Date: 1013.7; Miles Hiked Today: 21.3
We made it to the ferry with time to spare. The ferryman, a guy paddling a red canoe, operates from 9-11 am and from 2- 4 pm each day. We left the Little Bigelow lean-to at 5:50am and arrived at the ferry crossing on the Kennebec River at 1:45 pm! That's over 20 miles in about 8 hours (including a lunch break of 1 hour). Brad set the pace and the flat trail made for fairly easy going. Still a great effort. Second Wind had hiked on last night and camped 3 miles ahead of us. He started at the same time and we caught up with him around 9:00. He decided to walk with us (or, as he put it, “draft” off us) so that he could make better time. He was anxious to get to Caratunk to pick up a package at the post office. The Post Office closes at 5:00 and you have to cross the river to get to it. We walked 17 miles before 11:30am. Not that I'm bragging or anything! The trail, wet from a nearly continuous drizzle, brought us through a stately evergreen forest dotted with large ponds and the occasional waterfall. The rain stopped as we walked up to the ferry landing (basically a clear place on the shore). Dave, the ferryman, arrived on time on north bank. He ferried a couple over, then, Brad and I. The ferry service is under contract with the ATC. It began after a hiker tried to ford the river and drowned. The river has several dams on it. Released water from the dam increases the depth by 4' over the normal 4-6'. The 100 yard wide river innocently flows sedately suggesting more pond than river. But the sudden release of water, I guess, makes it treacherous. As we pushed off, Dave handed me a paddle to assist in the effort.
Brad Waiting for Ferry
Once on dry land, we walked the road to the hostel run by Steve Langley. He has run the hostel and ferry service for 20 years. He complained bitterly about tough economic times and vowed to get out of the business and get a “9-5” job. He told stories of hikers past. The Hostel operators have a communication network that passes on warnings about “troublesome” hikers. Those names get passed up and down this network. He told of one hiker, a young woman, named “Hellbender”. She apparently got so drunk at the annual Hiker Days in Harpers Ferry that she “pissed” on the floor of the ATC headquarters. We actually met this notorious libertine at Gentian Pond Shelter weeks ago. Steve shared a lot of other amusing stories about current Thru Hikers, but no one else that we knew. Most of the problems related to alcohol. Steve shuttled us up to the only restaurant in town, a great brew house attached to a lodge. We tried to call Pat 4 or 5 times but she's not picking up.
Steve asked if we needed anything. I told him about the problem with our water filter. He offered, and I accepted, the use of Steri-Pen left by previous hiker. He said that we could use it until we could find a replacement. The Steri-Pen kills the bad stuff by passing UV light through the water. We don't have the instruction manual, but I have seen someone else use one. How hard can it be? Steve said that we could just mail it back when we're through. These units retail for about $150! Wow, what a great offer. Steve doesn't know us from anyone, so it's amazing to me that he would trust us with such an expensive piece of equipment. The Steripen weighs only ounces , so I'm hopeful that it works.
So, showers, laundry, a great meal and a long hike then bed time at the old bunkhouse. Second Wind hopped out of a pick up shortly after we got back from dinner. He elected to sleep in his tent outside, so we get another 'snoreless' night.
Day 72/87, Aug 9, Thursday, Moxie Bald Lean-To, ME
Miles From Katahdin: 132.4; Miles Hiked To Date: 1032.5; Miles Hiked Today: 18.8
Today, we hiked from Caratunk and the Kennebec River to Bald Mountain Pond, passing Pleasant Pond and crossing Moxie Bald Mountain. A relatively easy hike. We left the hostel around 7:30 am with Steve shuttling us to the trail. We both slept well, having the hostel to ourselves. Second Wind took off around 6:00 am and we caught up with him around 10:00am. We found him talking to “Crystallis”, a middle aged section hiker, southbound to Stratton. She told us of being caught out in the big thunderstorm yesterday but remained in good spirits. Today, excellent weather. The Trail, although never reaching high altitudes, offered spectacular views. So many lakes and ponds! We found a bountiful supply of blueberries, a true bonus on an already wonderful day. I finally reached Pat this morning around 5:30 am. She will meet us in Monson with Brad's old boots. The water purifier, Steripen, seems to work well and is extremely light. This shelter, in spite of its ugly name, is probably the most beautiful setting we've seen. We are right on the pond. I took a “skinny dip” when we arrived: cleaning off a bit from our hike. The cool water was very refreshing. My swim was made more than a pleasure by the great need I had to clean up. Earlier, on top of Moxie Bald, I stepped between some boulders on the only trail available and found myself sinking up to my knees! I couldn't move! The narrow trail didn't allow room for Brad to help and there was nothing to grab onto to pull myself up. The suction on my boots was tremendous. The Trail at this point passed between boulders and dense vegetation. Black ooze covers the whole trail with no place to step around it. From past experience, I knew to test the surface for firmness and placed one foot on solid ground. The other foot gave way rapidly and I found myself in a comical but precarious position. I finally rolled a little to my right and grabbed the bushes, pulling myself up and out. I was covered with smelly black mud. This afternoon, the pond took care of the worse of it but I still had to scrape to get clean.
We made dinner tonight with stove top stuffing and freeze dried corn. It was pretty good. We ate by the pond. About halfway through our meal, a beaver swam to within 30 feet of us and consumed a sizable branch, snatched from shore. Neither of us had seen a beaver in the wild. We watched her for about ½ hour swimming back and forth.
Tomorrow, we reach Monson, last bastion of civilization before the 100 Mile Wilderness and Katahdin. Pat, hopefully, will be there to help us resupply.
Day 73/88, Aug 10, Friday, Monson, ME
Miles From Katahdin: 114.5; Miles Hiked To Date: 1050.4 Miles Hiked Today: 17.9
Day 74/90, Aug 12, Sunday, Long Pond Steam Lean-To, ME
Miles From Katahdin: 99.4; Miles Hiked To Date: 1065.5; Miles Hiked Today: 15.1
We made Monson on Friday by about noon and hitched into town. The only place we could find that served food was the Springhouse BBQ and it was superb! We stopped an older guy on the street wearing an ATC insignia on his shirt to ask about restaurants. He had no idea but he did know that the bar down the street sold 'shots' for 2 bucks! The Handbook states that the General Store serves food but they don't any longer. The owner of the store, however, thought that the Springhouse was open (the Handbook lists the hours of the Springhouse as 'sporadic'). He called “Miss Kim” to confirm and gave us directions.
We had a great meal: cheeseburgers, hand squeezed lemonade, French fries, potato salad. We arrived there about 2:00 pm and spent the afternoon eating and drinking lemonade waiting for Pat. We had blueberry pie and ice cream for desert.
Pat pulled up around 5:30 and on the advice of Kim we headed to Greenville – about 20 miles away. Brad's old boots proved to be in worse shape than we remembered and were unusable. We needed to find a place that had an outfitter and a motel. Greenville had one of the former and several of the later. We booked a room at a fantastic motel with great views of the mountains. Greenville, a little tourist town, sits on Moosehead Lake and thrives on tourist owned vacation homes and “return” visitors, as we were told by a local. Brad bought a new pair of boots and we ate very well. Once again, Pat made life easier by being there.
Back on the trail this morning around 8:00, we made this shelter around 2:30. Short of our goal but a decent effort. We need to really push to meet Pat in Baxter on Friday.
Last Thursday, Second Wind gave me a copy of his self published poems. We felt really honored.
We met some SOBO section hikers who had met on a Thru Hike several years ago. One man told his tale of how they met. Hiking solo, he was fording a waist deep, fast moving stream south of Katahdin when he lost his footing. Swept away by the current and strapped into his backpack, he floundered and sputtered down stream until he was grabbed by another hiker and pulled out of the river. The two have been friends ever since. This year's hike marked an anniversary of their meeting.
View of Long Pond
Day 75/91, Aug 13, Monday, Carl A. Newhall Lean-To, ME
Miles From Katahdin: 78.6; Miles Hiked To Date: 1086.3; Miles Hiked Today: 20.8
Beginning tomorrow, we need to really knock off some serious mileage to make our self imposed schedule. The good news is we have only one major mountain to cross before Katahdin. I think we can probably do some high 20s or even 30 mile days on the relatively flat terrain.
Day 76/92, Aug 14, Tuesday, Potaywadjo Spring Lean-To, ME
Miles From Katahdin: 48.3; Miles Hiked To Date: 1116.6; Miles Hiked Today: 30.3
We did 30.3 miles today, covering 4 peaks! Wow! After the peaks, the last until Katahdin, the trail was flat and dry. We exceeded our plan and are set up for a nice hike into Baxter (if we do another 30 mile day). Regardless, we will make our schedule to climb Katahdin on Friday. Today was gorgeous. Partly cloudy and 60-70* temperature. We had fog this morning as we climbed White Cap and, therefore, no views. On the other hand, we met up with a large trail maintenance crew. They were on their last day of their assignment. They greeted us with “Want some food?” They didn't want to have to carry everything out and had a tremendous amount left over. So, we made ourselves a couple of bagel/cream cheese sandwiches to eat on the way and two more to eat later, 2 apples each, and 8 cookies!!! That was our lunch.
We had a nice hike today and felt good about the miles made good. We aren't exhausted but certainly glad to stop. We saw and talked to several trail maintenance volunteers. They have done a terrific job here in ME. The best we've seen. I am surprised at the number of “recreation hikers” we've seen. The so-called 'Wilderness', has become pretty accessible with couple of forest roads. Still, it's very beautiful. A number of nice ponds and lakes. The woods are mostly evergreens and smell like Christmas.
Tomorrow, we may make it to Abol Campground just outside Baxter.
Day 77/93, Aug 15, Wed, Hurd Brook Lean-To, ME
Miles From Katahdin: 18.6; Miles Hiked To Date: 1146.3; Miles Hiked Today: 29.7
Day 78/94, Aug 16, Thur, The Birches, Baxter State Park, ME
Miles From Katahdin: 5.2; Miles Hiked To Date: 1159.7; Miles Hiked Today: 13.4
Yesterday we hiked another 30 miles but decided to stop at the Hurd Lean-To, 3.4 miles short of Abol. It was after 6:00 pm when we got to the shelter and we might not have made it to the campground before dark. Besides, the camp store closes at 7:00 and it would have been a close thing. A brother and sister team were at the shelter last night. They have been hiking together for 25 years. He has done almost all of the AT in sections. She has done great deal of the trail as well. This was the first of about a 30 day outing. They plan to get to Gorham. The woman, Nancy Wilson, fell off a trail bridge early in their hike toady. She hurt her left knee. I lent her one of my knee braces. She'll mail it back when she's done with it. She's from Damascus and offered us help, if needed, when we do the SOBO.
This is our week to do good deeds. Monday, at the Newman Shelter, two young women couldn't get their Coleman stove to light. So, Brad showed them how to use our wood stove. They were not very successful (knocking over the stove) so we let them use our alcohol stove. We first saw them as we were putting on our shoes after crossing East Branch River. They were about to cross without taking off their shoes when Brad yelled over that the water was deeper than it looked. That it would come over the top of their boots. They came on anyway and got their boots soaked! One of them later developed blisters as a result. When they went to put up their tent, one of the poles broke! They were still able to use it but all and all it was not a good start for a 4 day outing. On the other hand, it gave Brad a chance to be gallant and have some quality interaction with a couple of attractive young women.
Anyway, here we are at Baxter! We hiked down to the Abol Camp Store this morning just as they opened. The store doesn't carry much but we bought some milk, cake snacks, coffee and snacks for later. We really have everything we need for tomorrow and the rest of today. I did reach Pat on the pay phone. The pay phone is a cell connection. It worked even though we couldn't get a connection on our cell. It took 3 tries and 3 dollars to have a 3 minute conversation with Pat. Still, we were able to confirm our arrangements for tomorrow. She'll come to the Park and hang out until we've finished Katahdin.
Brad and I are both excited about finishing this leg of the hike and anxious to head south. We haven't decided whether or not to stop at home on the way back to Harper's Ferry. We may want to go to Bar Harbor. Another option, stop and visit with Second Wind, aka Mike, who invited us to stay with him in Bath, ME. He arrived here yesterday afternoon. He told us that he expected us to pass him somewhere in the Wilderness. He had a 1½ day head start and walked 20 miles a day. Still, he only got here ½ day ahead of us.
View of Katahdin
We did 2 - 30 mile days in a row. We both felt fine but I think that's pushing too hard. Today was relatively easy; a little over 13 miles. Beautiful walk along the river and streams, cascades and waterfalls. Really nice. This afternoon we're taking it easy; talking to other Thru and section hikers, reading and napping. The Park has a reserved campsite for long distance hikers (those who entered the Park after completing the 100 Mile Wilderness.
Katahdin Stream Falls
Day 79/95, Aug 17, Friday, The Birches, Baxter State Park, ME
Miles From Katahdin: 0; Miles Hiked To Date: 1164.9; Miles Hiked Today: 5.2
Fantastic walk today, early start, great climb to the summit and celebratory freeze dried double chocolate cheese cake. We started around 7:00 carrying only food, water and rain gear. The weather: mild and clear. The trail, well developed, passes nice waterfalls , quickly brings you above the tree line. The views from Katahdin differ from the rest of the AT by offering a 360* uninterrupted view, uncorrupted by power lines, cities or highways. The trail steepens as you near a sort of plateau just below the summit. Re-bar hand and footholds make the climb easier but in at least one place I had to boost Brad because his reach fell short of the nearest hand hold. Both Brad and I were surprised at the difficult nature of the climb. The approach at the base poised no difficulty. It follows Katahdin Stream much of the way and offers cascades and waterfalls of the clearest water you'll find anywhere. The trail up Katahdin is a bit of a challenge.
We reached the famous Katahdin sign noting Baxter Peak's 5,267 foot summit (the highest point in Maine ) around 10:30, a 3 ½ hour hike. We found a few people who had come up a different trail. Soon the peak buzzed with good spirits from a nearby crowd of hikers as they enjoyed the views and took pictures. One family forgot their camera, so I took a couple of pictures to email to them. We met up with 2 guys who had stayed at the Birches and we each took photos with each others cameras. The crowd reached about 15 or 20 by the time we were ready to descend. We contemplated hiking the 1 ½ mile Knife Edge, a razor thin ridge that descending from the summit in a crescent to the north. When I asked Brad if he wanted to hike the “Edge”, he replied, “I signed up to hike the AT. The Knife's Edge is not in the contract.”
View from Baxter Peak
We celebrated by mixing up the chocolate cheesecake. Unfortunately we forgot our spoons, so we just dipped our fingers into the plastic bag; messy but effective. We sat on the mountaintop enjoying the moment, watching clouds form below us and rise as the sun grew warmer. Our accomplishment brought on a warm sense of satisfaction rather than unrestrained joyfulness.
After about 3 hours, we headed back down. The weather remained excellent. Going down, however, proved harder than coming up. I lost my footing once while poised on a re-bar foothold. I fell hard on my shoulder. No serious harm done, but scary. At one point, Brad's foot wedged into a crevice and it too both of us to free it. A mile or so from the trail head, Pat came strolling up the trail! Hugs and kisses. Together we descended to the parking are. Pat presented each of us with a singe beautiful red rose. We then gathered our gear from the office and headed out of the park.
On Top of the World!
No comments:
Post a Comment